Fantasy House

Hermione had never felt more relieved as she sat in the passenger\'s seat of Aleksandar\'s car. In a few short hours, she would be in Plovdiv. With any luck there would be a wizard or witch in the police station who could help her get in touch with Viktor.



Oh, if only Harry or Ron had a mobile, she thought. Hermione had tried talking them into getting one, but she knew Ron could hardly work the telephone, much less a wireless phone. As for Harry, the man hadn\'t found any need for the device.



Hermione returned her thoughts to the present. Once she was able to find Viktor, he could get her to England and in touch with Harry or Ron. Then they would all be saved.



"You are from England?" Aleksandar asked, glancing at her quickly, then turning his eyes back to the road.



"Yes, I live in London," she told him.



He nodded. "These who kidnapped you, they are from England as well?"



"Unfortunately, they are," she told him.



They both grew quiet again. Hermione silently looked out the window and took note of each sign they passed. Eventually, Aleksandar turned on the radio. Hermione didn\'t really understand any of the words to any of the songs, but she was grateful for the noise it provided.



She hoped Viktor wasn\'t away on some Quidditch tour.



(II) (II)



"Did you really think you could trick me? I ask again, where is Hermione Granger?" Blaise asked the group of men.



He was speaking through the television, so none of the men could actually get to him. He was beyond livid.



"And again," Lucius answered, "I will say--we do not know." There was a note of absolute truth in his voice and it infuriated Zabini even further.



The Italian folded his arms. "There\'s no way off of those grounds, so she has to be somewhere. Where are you hiding her?"



"We aren\'t," Lucius said, grateful that he did not have to prevaricate with the whelp, though the elder Malfoy was more than capable of doing so well enough to fool the late Dark Lord. "What reason would we have to hide her?"



"I\'ll ask the questions, Malfoy," Blaise growled. "Let me make myself clear: if she does not turn up, and soon, you will all perish."



The eldest of the group of five folded his arms and raised an eyebrow. It was Sirius, though, leaning against the door frame, who spoke, "Oh, I\'m sure she\'ll turn up eventually, Zabini. Hermione\'s never been one to just disappear. You\'ll see her soon enough."



"Sirius," Remus warned, glancing at his friend.



The Animagus shrugged, but continued to stare at the television screen.



The conditions in the house were not improving. Food had lessened even more, the water was filled with an unknown substance, and the forest room was thick with vegetation.



"Without water and soon without food," Blaise said, glancing down at his fingernails. "How ever will you all survive?"



"Do you really mean to starve us?" Draco asked, his eyes narrowed.



Zabini laughed. "You won\'t last long enough to starve, Malfoy, I promise," he said. "I\'m surprised none of you have noticed the lovely plant growing in the forest. But then, you\'ve all been too busy shagging one another to really take note."



There was silence for a moment before Blaise continued, "And I\'m sure you\'ve all noticed that the knives do not cut your fruits and vegetables anymore. They only cut human flesh. Call it my gift to you; an easy way out. You won\'t be able to fight what\'s coming your way. And you won\'t be able to escape it. This particular plant grows too fast.” The dark-skinned man paused for dramatic effect before delivering his ultimatum to the gathering of men.



“I want Hermione Granger. Find her and I may spare you for a little longer."



The five men glanced at one another as the television shut off. Though no one spoke, Severus quit the room quickly and went to the forest room. He did not even have to open the door, for the plant had grown so large it had crept out from under the door and wrapped itself around the doorknob.



As the other men approached the Potions master, Severus took a deep breath, pointed at the plant, and said, "Devil\'s snare."



(III) (III)



“I don’t want to wait for another warrant! We know the truth now,” Harry argued as he paced the length of the rug.



The Minister of Magic pinched the bridge of his nose. “I understand your position—“



“No! You don’t!” Ron shouted. “If you did, you’d just hand over the warrant without waiting for the Wizengamot to make up their minds.”



“Mr. Weasley, try to understand where I’m coming from. We have to follow procedure—“



“You fought alongside these men, Kingsley,” Harry growled. “I thought Sirius and Remus were your friends.”



“They are my friends.”



“Then what the hell is holding you back?! You were a member of the Order. The people who fought in the Order, your friends, are being held against their will at an unknown location. Zabini knows where this location is. Give us the warrant to bring him in!” The-Man-Who-Lived snarled.



The Minister sighed. “Mr. Potter. Mr. Weasley. You heard these tales from a house-elf--“



“From my house-elf,” Harry pointed out.



“From Mr. Black’s house-elf,” Kingsley corrected. “For all we know, Black could have ordered the elf to lie to you about his location.”



Harry shook his head. “No, Kreacher was telling the truth. Sirius did not order him to lie. If you want, Kreacher could show us the room where Zabini watches Sirius and the rest on a television. He told us all about it, but in order to show you, to show us, we will need that warrant.”



“You’re lucky we are even here, Shacklebolt. Harry wanted to go straight there and just arrest Zabini on the spot,” Ron said. “It was Ginny who talked us out of doing just that.”



“Smart girl,” the Minister said. “Do you realize what would have happened if you had just run in there to arrest him without a warrant? This isn’t Hogwarts anymore. You aren’t children. It’s been over three years since you’ve seen the inside of a classroom.”



“Four,” Ron corrected.



The Minister looked at him curiously. Then, he remembered. Harry and Ron had not returned to Hogwarts after the final battle. Only Hermione had returned to finish her education and, even then, she hadn’t been there all the time. The girl had been obsessed with getting treatment for Snape and had balanced her time at Hogwarts with trips to St. Mungo’s. Somehow she still managed to graduate at the top of her class.



Kingsley sighed. Being the Minister of Magic really was a tough job. “Look,” he said, finally. “I know that you are both agitated. I know you want to get your friends back and clear the Malfoys’ names. I brought your request to the Wizengamot and, depending on the vote; they may issue you a warrant. I will talk to them; I will try to persuade them, but please, try to understand. Your information is coming from a house-elf. If it were a human, that would be a different story—“



“We have Andromeda Tonks,” Harry said suddenly. “She’s staying at Grimmauld Place, but she cannot talk at the moment.”



This information roused the Minister’s curiosity. “What do you mean she cannot talk?”



“Well, she does talk,” Ron said, looking at Harry then back at Kingsley. “But she’ll only say one word. We have reason to believe she was hit with the Cruciatus several times. My sister did a diagnostic spell on her and that’s what was found.”



“What word does she say?” the Minister asked.



“Up. We don’t know what she means by it, though. Ginny keeps trying to ask her, but all she says is ‘Up,’” Harry replied.



“Are you planning on taking her to St. Mungo’s?”



Harry shook his head. “Not until we know for certain she is safe. We mentioned it once and she had a huge fit. We think she’s scared of something. Personally, I think that something is Blaise Zabini. I think he cursed her into madness and she’s terrified he’ll come after her again. I think that’s why she chose to come to Grimmauld Place the moment she was away from him. She knew the Order would protect her.”



“Grimmauld Place isn’t the base for the Order anymore,” the Minister said carefully. “We disbanded after the war.”



Harry and Ron looked at one another. When the raven-haired man turned back to the Minister, his expression was hard. “Do you think for one minute that if another Dark Lord came about that the Order wouldn’t band together again to defeat him? Does it really matter that we are ‘disbanded’ now? The point is Andromeda trusts us. She knows we won’t hurt her or let anyone else hurt her. That’s why she came to us.”



“All of this is pointless!” Ron hissed as he stood up and threw his hands in the air. “While we are arguing about the state of the Order and Andromeda’s condition, my best friend is being treated like a sex slave to a mad man!” He pointed at Kingsley. “I know Zabini’s behind this. Harry knows Zabini’s behind this. You get us that warrant by tomorrow or we’ll make damn sure you never sit behind that desk again!”



“Is that a threat, Mr. Weasley?” Kingsley growled, standing and placing both fists upon the desk.



“No. It’s a promise.”